Mainstreaming sustainable energy investments in the financial sector
LIFE Project Grants
Basic Information
- Identifier
- LIFE-2022-CET-MAINSTREAM
- Programme
- LIFE-2022-CET
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 17, 2022
- Deadline
- November 16, 2022
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €6,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- –
- Max Grant Amount
- –
- Expected Number of Grants
- –
- Keywords
- LIFE-2022-CET-MAINSTREAMLIFE-2022-CET
Description
Proposals should result, depending on the scope of the activities, in enhanced capacity and appetite of private financial institutions to invest in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy sources; adoption of new approaches, tools, labels and certification schemes; enhanced access to data related to financial and energy performance; evolutions in the regulatory and supervisory frameworks; easier identification of the alignment of sustainable energy investments to the criteria of the EU taxonomy of sustainable activities.
Proposals should quantify their impacts using the indicators listed below, where relevant, as well as other project-specific performance indicators:
- Number of private finance stakeholders integrating the results of the project and related investment portfolios.
- Number of private finance stakeholders benefitting from enhanced capacity.
- Number of financial regulatory bodies and supervisory authorities benefitting from support on sustainable energy policies.
- Investments in sustainable energy triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro).
- Primary energy savings triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
- Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
The impacts of the proposals should be demonstrated during the project and within 5 years after the project lifetime.
Objective:The topic aims to make investments in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy sources more attractive to private investors.
Significant investments need to be mobilised to achieve the ambition set by the European Green Deal[1] and the objective to reduce EU dependence on fossil fuels imports set out in the REPowerEU plan[2]. While significant public sector expenditure is allocated to leverage private finance for sustainable energy (e.g. through the InvestEU facility), many private investors still lack sufficient incentives and tools to overcome the perceived complexity and risks associated with this kind of projects. Sustainable energy investments, understood in this topic as investments in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy sources, need further de-risking and mainstreaming into the strategic and operational approaches of market actors, in particular private financial institutions.
The EU’s sustainable finance strategy[3] aims to embed sustainability into investment processes. A proper implementation of the associated policies, in particular the EU taxonomy regulation[4], the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive[5], the Banking Package 2021[6], the EU green bond standard[7] and labels for retail investment products, requires market actors to change their practices. Sustainable energy interventions are often part of a broader investment, hence they are not always identified as sustainable assets, which reduces their visibility for investors.
In this context, adequate tools and methodologies are needed to attract private finance to sustainable energy investments, in particular in the energy efficiency segment. Some of these exist already and need to be fine-tuned and expanded. There is also a need to encourage investment alignment with and overachievement of the regulatory requirements and policies on sustainable finance, both on the supply and demand side of finance. Such alignment could in turn foster a massive upscale of retail investment in sustainable energy and via securitisation of sustainable energy assets access to the secondary market.
Scope:Proposals should address one or several of the following areas of work, with a focus on sustainable energy investments (i.e. energy efficiency and/or small-scale renewables):
- Improving risk and sustainability assessment in the methods and tools of private investors by integrating the specificities of sustainable energy, including multiple benefits of energy efficiency. The focus can be at project level (e.g. creditworthiness analysis, quality standards, benchmarking data) or at portfolio level (e.g. internal ratings-based approaches, climate stress-testing, analysis of sustainable energy aspects of investment strategies, etc.).
- Labelling and certification schemes including methodologies and tools for benchmarking, tagging, monitoring of investment performance, and disclosure of investment data with a link to the EU sustainable finance legislation.
- Improving availability and interoperability for financial institutions of data collected e.g. from energy performance certificates, energy audits, smart meters, as well as energy and financial performance data of investment, connected wherever possible to the De-risking Energy Efficiency Platform (DEEP)[8].
- Development, evolution and/or distribution of financial products, including insurance, supporting the securitisation of sustainable energy assets with a particular focus on energy efficiency.
- Targeted support to sustainable energy finance related activities of regulatory bodies and supervisory authorities, in particular related to revised risk ratings and requirements for energy efficient assets.
- Accelerating implementation or overachievement of EU sustainable finance requirements and policies by private investors and/or companies, including support to project developers in order to better meet expectations of private investors (e.g. development of closer connections between technical standards and accounting and disclosure reporting).
- Develop standards to increase the volume of energy efficiency and sustainable energy investments in financial institutions assets and lending portfolio, in line with the EU’s sustainable finance strategy and the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
- Capacity building at all levels of the private finance value chain, in the form of exchanges of best practices, development of training programmes and/or evolution and/or rollout of existing training programmes.
The proposed actions should credibly engage with the relevant stakeholders in the private finance value chain, including institutional investors, but also retail banking branches, brokers, fund managers, investment advisers, insurers, etc., in order to ensure adoption of the results by market players. Proposals should demonstrate support of the targeted stakeholder groups and how they will be involved throughout the project.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 1.5 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
[1] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The European Green Deal of 11.12.2019 COM(2019) 640 final
[2] Communication from the Commission of 8.3.2022 to the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, REPowerEU: Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy, COM(2022) 108 final
[3]
[4] Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, Regulation (EU) 2020/852
[5] Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/34/EU, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, as regards corporate sustainability reporting of 21.04.2021, COM(2021) 189 final
[6] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_5401
Eligibility & Conditions
Conditions
Conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: described in section 5 of the call document
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System
2. Eligible countries: described in section 6 of of the call document
3. Other eligibility conditions: described in section 6 of the call document
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in section 7 of the call document
- Submission and evaluation processes: described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual
- Award criteria, scoring and thresholds: described in section 9 of the call document
- Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in section 4 of the call document
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in section 10 of the call document
Documents
Call documents:
Standard application form — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System
Standard evaluation form — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Support & Resources
Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application:
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals.
IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.
Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and submission to reporting on your on-going project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Latest Updates
CALL UPDATE: FLASH EVALUATION RESULTS
EVALUATION results
Published: 17.05.2022
Deadline: 16.11.2022
Available budget: 98 000 000 EUR
The results of the evaluation are as follows:
Call LIFE-2022-CET:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 225
Number of inadmissible proposals: 0
Number of ineligible proposals: 46
Number of above-threshold proposals: 85
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 121.754.792,21
Call LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDPERFORM:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 4
Number of ineligible proposals: 1
Number of above-threshold proposals: 3
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 5.865.781,37
Call LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDSKILLS:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 13
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 5
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 3.768.838,40
Call LIFE-2022-CET-BUSINESS:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 14
Number of ineligible proposals: 1
Number of above-threshold proposals: 9
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 13.040.546,97
Call LIFE-2022-CET-COMPLIANCE:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 1
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 1
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 2.410.725,00
Call LIFE-2022-CET-DEEPRENO:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 9
Number of ineligible proposals: 5
Number of above-threshold proposals: 2
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 3.631.160,32
Call LIFE-2022-CET-DH:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 12
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 4
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 6.009.574,77
Call LIFE-2022-CET-EE1ST:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 12
Number of ineligible proposals: 6
Number of above-threshold proposals: 3
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 4.487.583,22
Call LIFE-2022-CET-ENERCOM:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 32
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 14
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 20.815.327,63
Call LIFE-2022-CET-ENERPOV:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 10
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 3
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 5.594.070,15
Call LIFE-2022-CET-FINROUND:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 14
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 6
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 4.246.460,29
Call LIFE-2022-CET-HEATPUMPS:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 5
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 2
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 4.136.514,62
Call LIFE-2022-CET-HOMERENO:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 18
Number of ineligible proposals: 1
Number of above-threshold proposals: 9
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 13.815.194,78
Call LIFE-2022-CET-INNOFIN:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 13
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 2
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 2.917.074,57
Call LIFE-2022-CET-LOCAL:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 23
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 10
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 14.776.638,33
Call LIFE-2022-CET-MAINSTREAM:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 4
Number of ineligible proposals: 2
Number of above-threshold proposals: 0
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 0
Call LIFE-2022-CET-PDA:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 24
Number of ineligible proposals: 12
Number of above-threshold proposals: 6
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 7.386.828,93
Call LIFE-2022-CET-POLICY:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 1
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 1
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 1.999.308,12
Call LIFE-2022-CET-RENOPUB:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 16
Number of ineligible proposals: 6
Number of above-threshold proposals: 5
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 6.853.164,74
We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.
For questions, please contact [email protected].
CALL UPDATE: FLASH EVALUATION RESULTS
EVALUATION results
Published: 17.05.2022
Deadline: 16.11.2022
Available budget: 98 000 000 EUR
|
Topic code |
Call topic |
Budget |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDPERFORM |
Energy performance and Smart Readiness of buildings – making the instruments work |
7 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDSKILLS |
BUILD UP Skills - Strategies and training interventions enabling a decarbonised building stock |
6 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-BUSINESS |
Supporting the clean energy transition of the business sector |
6 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-COMPLIANCE |
New ecodesign and energy labelling compliance support facility and help centre for suppliers and retailers |
2,5 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-DEEPRENO |
Towards a zero emission building stock: strengthening the enabling framework for deep renovation |
6 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-DH |
Integration of low-grade renewable energy or waste heat in high temperature district heating |
6 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-EE1st |
Making the "Energy Efficiency First" principle more operational |
3,5 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-ENERCOM |
Developing support mechanisms for energy communities: Local authorities collaborating with citizen-led-initiatives |
6,5 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-ENERPOV |
Addressing building related interventions in vulnerable districts |
6 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-FINROUND |
National Finance Roundtables to support sustainable energy investments |
4 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-HEATPUMPS |
Accelerating deployment and affordability of heat pumps through collective purchase actions and procurement |
6 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-HOMERENO |
Integrated Home Renovation Services |
8 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-INNOFIN |
Innovative financing schemes for sustainable energy investments |
4 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-LOCAL |
Technical support to clean energy transition plans and strategies in municipalities and regions |
7 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-MAINSTREAM |
Mainstreaming sustainable energy investments in the financial sector |
3,5 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-PDA |
Project Development Assistance for sustainable energy investments |
8 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-POLICY |
Towards an effective implementation of key legislation in the field of sustainable energy |
2 M EUR |
|
LIFE-2022-CET-RENOPUB |
Setting up facilitation structures to accelerate the renovation wave in the public sector |
6 M EUR |
The results of the evaluation are as follows:
Call LIFE-2022-CET:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 225
Number of inadmissible proposals: 0
Number of ineligible proposals: 46
Number of above-threshold proposals: 85
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 121.754.792,21
Call LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDPERFORM:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 4
Number of ineligible proposals: 1
Number of above-threshold proposals: 3
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 5.865.781,37
Call LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDSKILLS:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 13
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 5
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 3.768.838,40
Call LIFE-2022-CET-BUSINESS:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 14
Number of ineligible proposals: 1
Number of above-threshold proposals: 9
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 13.040.546,97
Call LIFE-2022-CET-COMPLIANCE:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 1
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 1
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 2.410.725,00
Call LIFE-2022-CET-DEEPRENO:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 9
Number of ineligible proposals: 5
Number of above-threshold proposals: 2
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 3.631.160,32
Call LIFE-2022-CET-DH:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 12
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 4
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 6.009.574,77
Call LIFE-2022-CET-EE1ST:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 12
Number of ineligible proposals: 6
Number of above-threshold proposals: 3
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 4.487.583,22
Call LIFE-2022-CET-ENERCOM:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 32
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 14
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 20.815.327,63
Call LIFE-2022-CET-ENERPOV:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 10
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 3
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 5.594.070,15
Call LIFE-2022-CET-FINROUND:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 14
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 6
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 4.246.460,29
Call LIFE-2022-CET-HEATPUMPS:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 5
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 2
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 4.136.514,62
Call LIFE-2022-CET-HOMERENO:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 18
Number of ineligible proposals: 1
Number of above-threshold proposals: 9
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 13.815.194,78
Call LIFE-2022-CET-INNOFIN:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 13
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 2
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 2.917.074,57
Call LIFE-2022-CET-LOCAL:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 23
Number of ineligible proposals: 3
Number of above-threshold proposals: 10
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 14.776.638,33
Call LIFE-2022-CET-MAINSTREAM:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 4
Number of ineligible proposals: 2
Number of above-threshold proposals: 0
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 0
Call LIFE-2022-CET-PDA:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 24
Number of ineligible proposals: 12
Number of above-threshold proposals: 6
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 7.386.828,93
Call LIFE-2022-CET-POLICY:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 1
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 1
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 1.999.308,12
Call LIFE-2022-CET-RENOPUB:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 16
Number of ineligible proposals: 6
Number of above-threshold proposals: 5
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 6.853.164,74
We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.
For questions, please contact [email protected].
On 16 November 2022, a total of 225 proposals were submitted in response to the following topics:
LIFE-2022-CET-BUILDPERFORM: 4 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET- BUILDSKILLS: 13 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-BUSINESS: 14 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-COMPLIANCE: 1 proposal
LIFE-2022-CET-DEEPRENO: 9 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-DH: 12 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-EE1st: 12 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-ENERCOM: 32 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-ENERPOV: 10 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-FINROUND: 14 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-HEATPUMPS: 5 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-HOMERENO: 18 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-INNOFIN: 13 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-LOCAL: 23 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-MAINSTREAM: 4 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-PDA: 24 proposals
LIFE-2022-CET-POLICY: 1 proposal
LIFE-2022-CET-RENOPUB: 16 proposals
We want to draw your attention to the possibility to get support from your National Contact Point (European National Contact Points (europa.eu)). To facilitate such support, it would be beneficial to add your National Contact Point (NCP) under the “Participants” step of the application, by clicking on “Add contact”. Then, Under “Project role”, use the option “Contact person” and add your NCP’s data.